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Fair point. Under Sumlin, A&M lost to Florida (Manziel's first ever game) and LSU. Year two with the worst defense in the universe A&M lost to some great teams as well.

From what I've read, USC's defense seems to be the weak part of the team this year. (Correct me if I'm wrong). Without an explosive offense, it's hard to win that way (also hard to win WITH one as A&M proved last season). A&M's recruiting has some really strong defensive players coming in so that looks to improve.

That said, the A&M/USC game looks to be two unproven defenses vs. two fantastic offensive lines. It should be a great game. Edge to USC @ running back. Edge to A&M at WR (still unproven talent but loads of talent). QB's likely to be a wash.

Explosive offense? I don't care how many 20+yard plays an offense has, neither offense nor defense wins alone, and no matter how "explosive" an offense is, you can only score a maximum of 8 points per possession, then you got to give the ball back for us, when our offensive efficiency will shine. Our defense has been one of the most consistently good defenses in the conference since '09. Our defense that lost only 4 starters from last year was second in the conference in scoring defense, we have no coaching turnover from a consistently good, and the last time we were this young at cornerback, we were still pretty good against the pass.
How will it be hard for us to win without an explosive offense?

Explosive offense? I don't care how many 20+yard plays an offense has, neither offense nor defense wins alone, and no matter how "explosive" an offense is, you can only score a maximum of 8 points per possession, then you got to give the ball back for us, when our offensive efficiency will shine. Our defense has been one of the most consistently good defenses in the conference since '09. Our defense that lost only 4 starters from last year was second in the conference in scoring defense, we have no coaching turnover from a consistently good, and the last time we were this young at cornerback, we were still pretty good against the pass.
How will it be hard for us to win without an explosive offense?

BOOM!

__________________USC is in South Carolina.Carolina is in South Carolina.THE University of South Carolina IS THE University of SOUTH CAROLINA!

Some of the Aggies have been good on here, others unbearable, which is probably similar to every fanbase out there. I have seen some dismiss some things while continuing to promote garbage about their team at other times. Here are a few statistics from the very recent past that I find interesting that they don't talk about:

Since joining the SEC, the Aggies have not played a BCS automatic qualifier or Power 5 team in the non-conference schedule. They don't play one this year either, not one. I get it may have to do with the conference change, but that doesn't change the fact that in the past two seasons, 40% (8 of 20) of their wins have come against an inferior level of competition. For comparison, 18% (4 of 22) of USC's wins have come against this level of competition.

In the past three seasons, the Aggies are 1-6 against teams that finished ranked in the Top 10 of the final AP or coaches poll. For comparison, USC is 5-2 (best in the SEC) during the same period.

In the past three seasons, the Aggies are 5-10 against teams that finished ranked in the Top 25 of the final AP or coaches poll. For comparison, USC is 12-3 (best in the SEC) during the same period.

This will be a good game, be we will win this game. Call me cocky, confident, whatever you want, but we have demonstrated and shown we are the better program. We are in a better place, have performed better, have better discipline and better overall coaching. Our defense was good prior to Clowney and will be good after Clowney. The Aggies are still riding the Bama win from 2012 but completely disregard that save for that game, they have performed terribly in most of their games when they actually face a good team.

I enjoy friendly banter back and forth, but there comes a time when it gets ridiculous. I am excited for your first trip to Williams Brice. Come practice your cheers or whatever it is you call them, but they are going to be drowned out the entire night by one of our favorites against your sorry defense:

Another Carolina....First Down

"You can take your statistics and use them to paper your powder room." Ellis Johnson, former USC Defensive Coordinator, to an unidentified The State Reporter.

I am surprised that you only lost 4 starters from last year. I though the number was higher than that, but I haven't done and research on it either

We lost 5 defensive starters from last season, 3 on the dline and two DBs. We lost Clowney, Quarles, Sutton, Legree, and Hampton.

Not overly concerned about the dline because all the staters this year have significant playing time as we rotate our dline a lot. I think, Gerald Dixon DE will surprise a lot of people. He had a good year last year and has a knack for being around the ball and QB. Think he is better at the run stopping than Sutton was as well. Many say Dixon would have been more highly sought out of high school if he had not played with Clowney and been overshadowed at South Pointe. The kid can play.

Surratt is our lone DL starter coming back. He is our anchor for holding the line, QB containment, and run stuffer. Not sure if other Dixon or Dukes will start beside Surratt but both have a lot of playing time and are very talented. My concern is English on the left. He is very talented but still seems to be coming into his own. He is more of a pure pass rusher but with the extra weight hopefully he can hold down his side on the run. Last season when he played he had to go speed cause he was not going to bull rush a tackle and win. Hopefully he has worked on his hands.

Only one corner will possibly be a freshman starting, though other freshman will be back there at times.

Please forgive any misspelled words or grammar. I tried making sure it was all correct but am on a new tablet and it is a bit aggravating. Thanks!

Not a longhorn. Living outside of Dallas, I do work and interact with both of them. I will say the aTm fans are much better than the Texas and the Oklahoma fans.

It's crazy to think that a Gamecock would live in Texas?! Right? From the response of most people on here think if you live in TX you must be a longhorn. I've been living in TX since 2001 and completly agree with you. We have been surrounded by this fanbase and know the true colors they display. This is new to most Gamecocks...but we must be longhorns!

Fair point. Under Sumlin, A&M lost to Florida (Manziel's first ever game) and LSU. Year two with the worst defense in the universe A&M lost to some great teams as well.

From what I've read, USC's defense seems to be the weak part of the team this year. (Correct me if I'm wrong). Without an explosive offense, it's hard to win that way (also hard to win WITH one as A&M proved last season). A&M's recruiting has some really strong defensive players coming in so that looks to improve.

That said, the A&M/USC game looks to be two unproven defenses vs. two fantastic offensive lines. It should be a great game. Edge to USC @ running back. Edge to A&M at WR (still unproven talent but loads of talent). QB's likely to be a wash.

First our defense maybe the weaker part of the team but it is not weak. Like some have said we have had top 20 Ds for the past 5 years and most all of the guys lining up have had significant playing time. Second to say the QBs will be a wash is ignorant. I do not know how you can seriously type this statement. Your QB has 183 total passing yards to date. Our QB has over a 1000 yds. He had over 300 yds against our bitter rival in their house. Yours is a redshirt freshman and ours is a fifth year senior.

I am surprised that you only lost 4 starters from last year. I though the number was higher than that, but I haven't done and research on it either

Surprised? Prepare to be more surprised in about a week. Defense is getting a bit of a bad wrap due to the loss of Clowney and others. But, it is starting to look like it may turnout as good or better. The new blood stepping in may actually be more talented overall and Spurrier said himself he thought it was going to surprise a lot of people. You need to think of SC defense in the same context as you would Alabama, LSU, and Florida - not Ole Miss, Arky or Aubarn.

QB comparison? People outside of SC assume that our QB is green and an unknown commodity. Dylan Thompson is 3-0 as a starter beating 2 ranked opponents on the road. He's got more than 200 passing attempts and thrown for over 1800 yards. He's come in off the bench and won huge games for us (Michigan, UCF). He has a cannon for an arm and is a bonafide gunslinger. He played behind one of the greatest QBs in SC history and frankly could've started for more than half the teams in the SEC last year. He's a Senior not a Frosh or Soph and has been around the block. Now is his time. Spurrier says he's primed for a big year and nobody around here doubts it. I think by the time we roll over Ga, he'll pretty much be a household name.